Giro d’Italia 2014 Stage 3 was a road race over a distance of 187 km from Armagh to Dublin. There are some rolling hills in the first half but otherwise it is relatively flat. The Irish fans displaying pink horses, cows, sheep and even donkeys along the route to celebrate the pink jersey.

Today was another rainy wet day causing challenging slick roads resulting in several major crashes throughout the race. Even with the wet slick conditions racers maintained an average speed of 40 km/h.

Battling a headwind in a sprint for the finish Marcel Kittel and Ben Swift fighting to the finish line. Marcel Kittel wins the battle by the length of a spoke. Kittel the powerful German racks up his second stage win in a row.

Seems the trend is to win a Giro d’Italia stage on your birthday. After Svein Tuft from Canada won stage 1 on his 37th birthday, Marcel Kittel decided to do the same. He celebrates his 26th birthday today as well.

Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica Greenedge crashed earlier in the race, but recovered quickly and remains the overall race leader with a time of 5:37:54. Riders are likely looking forward to a rest day tomorrow to dry up. They will travel to Italy for stage 4. Possibly drier weather in store as they will start stage 4 in Giovinazzo on the Adriatic coast of Italy.

The first 3 stages of the Giro are in Ireland. The Tour de France 2014 also starts in the UK this year, with Yorkshire hosting the start. The Giro 2014 start is at night with a 27 km team time-trial through the streets of Belfast. After a third stage finish in the center of Dublin the race moves to Italy. The route then winds its way along the beautiful Amalfi Coast and along the Italian Riviera. The route passes through the cities of Bologna and Milan. Stage 16 and 20 will be through the Italian Alps. The race concludes with a grueling climb of the notorious Zoncolan. A picture of only the Zoncolan below. It reminds me of my climb through the Swiss Alps up St Gotthards pass.

The Zoncolan’s winding uphill climb.

The five 9 km ascent of the Zoncalon is the steepest climb in the Giro d’Italia. It averages grades of 13 per cent but reaches a leg burning 25 per cent in places. Not a stage to miss.

So the top Giro contenders this year will certainly include Evans and these top cyclists below:

Cadel Evans: Australia’s 37-year-old Cadel Evans will be taking part, but fellow Aussie cyclist Ritchie Port is out due to illness. No Australian has won the Giro, with Evans’ third last year the best overall result. He won the Tour de France in 2011 and placed second overall in the Tour Down Under in 2014. Evans continues to prove age is not stopping him.

Joaquim Rodriguez

Joaquim Rodriguez of Team Katusha finished third in the Tour de France 2013. He said that his focus was to win the Giro this year. “The Giro’s my goal,” Rodríguez told local Catalan TV, Sport3. “I went well there last year, placing just 16 seconds behind Ryder Hesjedal. The Giro’s hard, hardly any flat stages and always with a twist – that’s what I like.”

Rigaberto Uran

Rigaberto Uran: (Columbian) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Urán was first introduced to the world of cycling at the age of 14 by his father, who was assassinated a few months later by one of the countries terrorist groups. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in the road race. He became the first Colombian ever to make the podium of the Giro d’Italia, when he finished second behind Vincenzo Nibali in 2012.

Nairo Quintana

Nairo Quintana the Columbian Movistar team member is another favorite. The 23-year-old powerhouse finished second overall on his Tour de France debut in 2013,. He had a spectacular race winning the mountains classification, the white jersey and the final mountain stage. He said he will not ride the Tour de France this year, but will focus all his energy on winning the Giro.

Marcel Kittel (Argos Shimano) German (born 11 May 1988)

Marcel Kittel

Kittel made his Tour debut in 2012 when he was selected as leader of his team in the 2012 Tour de France, where he would compete for stage wins and the green jersey.Kittel has found incredible success as a sprinter. Likely going for a green points jersey in the race.

He finished first in the 2013 Tour de France first stage in Corsica and took the inaugural Maillot jaune of the 100th Tour de France

Kittel started the 2014 season by winning three stages in-a-row at the Tour of Dubai. On the third stage, he survived two short climbs near the end of the race and won the sprint of a greatly reduced group

Dan Martin

Daniel Martin the 28-year-old Irishman is a member of the Garmin-Sharpe team. Unfortunately Martin crashed in the first stage team time trial in Belfast and has withdrawn from the race. His most notable achievements include winning a stage at the Tour de France 2013, winning a stage at the Vuelta a Espana in 2011, and winning the overall classification at both the 2010 Tour de Poligone and 2013 Volta a Cataluyna.“I’m going to win,” the Irishman told VeloNews without blinking at the Tour of Beijing in October. “I know I’m capable of it and that’s why I’m heading to Italy.”

I am a firefighter currently circumnavigating the globe by bike for cancer research. I have covered 12,000 km or 1/2 of the globe so far. My global ride site that maps me on Google Maps is www.firefightercycle.com .Read my blogs sign up on twitter @copsfire, or RSS feed here

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